Professor: Casey Dué Hackney.  Office hours for Fall 2013 are Wednesdays, 9:30-11 and by appointment, 601 Agnes Arnold Hall. Contact me by email at cldue (at) central.uh.edu

Course Requirements: attendance; participation in class and in on-line discussions; two museum visits; two tests; one paper and presentation

Learning Outcomes: Students will attain, through lectures, class discussion, and reading, and will demonstrate through two tests and one paper, knowledge about the antiquities trade and the ethical issues surrounding the acquisition of cultural property by museums and collectors. In considering the question of “who owns the past?”, students will come to understand, by these same means, the significance of ancient culture for the formation of modern culture. At the same time, students will be exposed to and gain an appreciation for the ancient art and literature of Greece and the Near East.

Grades: Participation in on-line and in-class discussions 25% (includes 2 quizzes); Test 1 25%; Test 2 25%; Final paper and presentation 25%

Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments is requested to speak with the professor during the first two weeks of class. All discussions will be confidential. Students who have disabilities are encouraged to register with the Center for Students with DisABILITIES (713-743-5400 or www.uh.edu/csd).

Class Project: All students will research a controversial object, write a ten page paper, and give a brief presentation about it in the final week of class. The presentation should draw on our class discussions about the ethics involved in the acquisition and display of cultural property. (For ideas, see, e.g., http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/ and http://chasingaphrodite.com/.) Students will be evaluated on the quality and depth of their research as well as the degree of polish in their presentations. Presentations based on minimal research will not receive credit. The use of slides or other visual elements is strongly encouraged.

Required Reading:

The Homeric Iliad (in any translation). Translations are widely available, including for free on-line. I recommend finding an edition with a good introduction and/or with a modern translation that speaks to you. Excellent ones include the latest (2011) edition of the very literal verse translation by Richmond Lattimore (with an introduction by Richard Martin), that of Stanley Lombardo (extremely modern, with an introduction by Sheila Murnaghan), and that of Robert Fagles (in modern verse, with an introduction by Bernard Knox).

The Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by Andrew George (2003, ISBN: 978-0140449198)

Lapatin, K. Mysteries of the Snake Goddess: Art, Desire, and the Forging of History. Da Capo, 2003.

Renfrew, C. Loot, Legitimacy and Ownership. Duckworth, 2000.

Felch, J. and R. Frammolino. Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World's Richest Museum. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.

Available on Blackboard:

Boardman, J. “Archaeologists, Collectors, and Museums.” In Robson, Treadwell, and Gosden, eds, Who Owns Objects? The Ethics and Politics of Collecting Cultural Artefacts (Oxbow Books,2006), 33-46.

Gill, D. W. and C. Chippindale. “Material and Intellectual Consequences of Esteem for Cycladic Figures.” American Journal of Archaeology 97 (1993): 601-659.

Owen, D. “Censoring Knowledge: The Case for the Publication of Unprovenanced Cuneiform Tablets.” In J. Cuno, ed., Whose Culture? The Promise of Museums and the Debate Over Antiquities (Princeton, 2009), 125-142.

On reserve at Anderson Library: (*recommended for purchase)

Boardman, J. The Parthenon and its Sculptures. University of Texas Press, 1985.

Bogdanos, M. and W. Patrick. Thieves of Baghdad. Bloomsbury, 2005.

Cuno, J. Who Owns Antiquity?: Museums and the Battle over Our Ancient Heritage. Princeton University Press, 2008.

Fitz Gibbon, K., ed. Who Owns the Past? Cultural Policy, Cultural Property, and the Law. Rutgers University Press, 2005.

Hitchens, C. The Parthenon Marbles: The Case for Reunification. Verso, 2008.

Neils, J. The Parthenon Frieze. Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Polk, A. and M. Schuster. The Looting of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad: The Lost Legacy of Ancient Mesopotamia. Harry N. Abrams, 2005. 

*Waxman, S. Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World. Times Books, 2009.

* Wood, M. In Search of the Trojan War. 2nd ed.  Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.

Woodford, S. The Parthenon. Cambridge University Press, 1981.

Schedule of lectures and assignments:

NOTE: All reading assignments must be completed in advance of the day to which they are assigned. Lectures 1 will introduce the course. Beginning with the second week, you should complete the assigned reading and post to the week’s discussion board BEFORE our class meeting.

Week 1 (8/28): Priam’s Treasure; the Legacy of the Trojan War in Classical Greek Literature and Art

Week 2 (9/4): In Search of the Trojan War

Assigned reading: Wood, In Search of the Trojan War Prologue and Chapter 1;  Iliad books 1,3

Additional assignment: Post to the discussion board for this week on Blackboard by Tuesday (9/3) at noon.

Week 3 (9/11): In Search of the Trojan War

Assigned Reading: In Search of the Trojan War Chapters 2 and 3; Iliad books 6, 9

Additional assignment: Post to the discussion board for this week on Blackboard by Tuesday (9/10) at noon.

Week 4 (9/18): The Iliad

Assigned Reading: Iliad books 16, 18, 22, 24; Lapatin, Mysteries of the Snake Goddess chapter 1-4

Additional assignment: Post to the discussion board for this week on Blackboard by Tuesday (9/17) at noon.

Week 5 (9/25): Art, Desire, and the Forging of History

Assigned Reading: Lapatin, Mysteries of the Snake Goddess chapters 5-8

Additional assignments: Post to the discussion board for this week on Blackboard by Tuesday (9/24) at noon.

Week 6 (10/2): Test 1; Cycladic Figures, Greek Vases, and the Value of Historical Objects

Assigned Reading: Renfrew, Loot, Legitimacy, and Ownership pp. 15–38

*Menil Museum Visit*: The Menil Collection (1515 Sul Ross St.; menil.org) is free and open to the public Wednesdays - Sundays 11-7. Please visit as much of the main galleries of the museum as you can, but pay particular attention to how they have displayed Cycladic material (to be introduced in class on 10/2 and discussed on 10/9).

Week 7 (10/9): The Ethics of Collecting Cultural Property: Theory and Practice

Assigned Reading: Renfrew, Loot, Legitimacy, and Ownership pp. 39–80; Gill, D. W. and C. Chippindale. “Material and Intellectual Consequences of Esteem for Cycladic Figures.” American Journal of Archaeology 97 (1993): 601–659.

Additional assignments: Post to the discussion board for this week on Blackboard by Tuesday (10/8) at noon.

*MFAH Museum Visit*: Visit the antiquities section of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (mfah.org). (Admission will be free if you show them your student ID and the syllabus. Thursdays are also free for all from 10am-9pm.) Pay attention to how antiquities are displayed and take notes on particular objects of interest to you. If allowed, take photographs and write down any information about how, when, and from whom the ancient objects have been acquired.

Week 8 (10/16): The Role of Museums and Collections I: The Case for the Encyclopedic Museum

Assigned Reading: Boardman [In Robson, Treadwell, and Gosden 2006], “Archaeologists, Collectors, and Museums”; Cuno, Who Owns Antiquity? introduction and chapter 1

Additional assignment: Post to the discussion board for this week on Blackboard by Tuesday (10/15) at noon.

Week 9 (10/23): Lord Elgin and the Parthenon Marbles

Assigned Reading: Waxman, Loot pp. 209–276; Woodford, The Parthenon pp. 28-47

Recommended (but not required): Boardman, The Parthenon and its Sculptures; Neils, The Parthenon Frieze

Additional assignment: Post to the discussion board for this week on Blackboard by Tuesday (10/22) at noon.

Week 10 (10/30): Test 2

Week 11 (11/6): The Role of Museums and Collections II: The Getty Museum

Assigned Reading: Felch and Frammolino, Chasing Aphrodite (first half)

Additional assignment: Post to the discussion board for this week on Blackboard by Tuesday (11/5) at noon.

Week 12 (11/13): Chasing Aphrodite + Quiz

Assigned Reading: Felch and Frammolino, Chasing Aphrodite (second half)

Week 13 (11/20): The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad revisited + Quiz

Assigned Reading: The Standard Version of the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic, tablets I-XII (= George 1999 pp. 1-100); Polk and Schuster, The Looting of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad. Skim through the book, look at pictures and timelines, and absorb as much as you can. For a more comprehensive (but still very accessible) overview, see Ancient Iraq, by Georges Roux.

Also Warmly Recommended (but not at all required): Bogdanos, Thieves of Baghdad.

Week 14: THANKSGIVING - NO CLASS

Week 15 (12/4): Student Presentations

Final papers due by Monday, December 9 at midnight